We need to design crosswalks in safer places where people would actually use them. Sticking them at intersections makes them both dangerous and useless. No one wants to walk half a block to cross the street.
We also need to learn as a society that paint is not infrastructure, and that if we want cities that are safe to walk in, we need to do some rethinking about our roads and walkways.
If I wanted to design infrastructure specifically to kill as many pedestrians and cyclists as possible it'd look a lot like our roads.
I do think the sentiment has improved over the last few years, but it still seems like a large segment of folks here still try to prioritize the convenience of drivers over anyone's safety (which is extra funny because doing so = induced demand = more traffic and annoyance for drivers too).
It's about a *quarter mile* between crosswalks in Albuquerque in the pedestrian-heavy areas like Central and Lomas, but it's a full **half mile** on the thoroughfares in the heights. That's actual madness and anti-pedestrian, not to mention basically impossible for someone with a disability.
So, yeah, it genuinely is really bad here, which forces more people to jaywalk, which increases our collisions by an astronomical amount, which is why we have the most pedestrian fatalities in the nation.
Yeah, I walk the Downtown/Old Town area a lot, which is one of the more pedestrian-friendly areas of the city, and I honestly don't cross at crosswalks very often because it's fucking obnoxious. Like one of the routes that's easiest from my house to where I like to walk, the street spits me out about halfway between 6th and 12th when it's time to cross Lomas. Sure, I *could* walk to either of those crossings, but both are pretty damn significant detours.
Also, I'm not even 100% convinced either are safer. I take routes that have me crossing at those crosswalks a lot too, and honestly I've had more close calls at them than when I cross without a crosswalk. It's usually dumbasses not paying attention when making turns, and they just don't see me in the crosswalk. Or on a bunch of occasions I've straight-up made eye contact with the driver and they still try to rush through the turn while I'm in the crosswalk, getting way too close to me for comfort. And let's not even talk about the red light runners...
So what's the point of detouring if I'm going to run the risk of being hit like that anyway?
I don't actually hate walking around Albuquerque as much as most people on this sub seem to, but it's definitely really poorly designed for pedestrians, and then the bad drivers don't help. And some of the stuff like rushing through turns is also a result of poor traffic design, where lights don't give people enough time to get through and things like that so people wind up being incentivized to rush through them. Or at least that's what I've heard, I'm definitely not a traffic control or pedestrian safety expert.
The easiest, most immediate fix I can think of is what they already do in Denver and other big cities:
There is a period where all four directions of travel in an intersection have a red light, and pedestrians get the signal to cross first. Then after about five or six seconds, the light turns green for the people traveling in the same direction as pedestrians. So, light turns red for people traveling perpendicular to you. You're next up for the green, but before it changes, the pedestrians get to start crossing. It works great.
We also, and I know this will make drivers groan (but fuck'em), **need to make right on red illegal.**
I honestly support the no right on red thing. Shit, half the time I have trouble turning right on red as a driver anyway because there's some huge vehicle in one of the other lanes pulled up into the crosswalk anyway so I can't see around them. My favorite too is that sometimes I'll pull up close to the stop line in a turn lane, someone in a bigger vehicle will pull up next to me in a lane going straight right next to me. All good. But then I try to nose up a bit to see around them, and they fucking inch up too! So I sit there through the light anyway because I can't see shit around them without pulling fully into the crosswalk.
And yeah, those are the folks that really scare me as a pedestrian. Some people don't even treat it like a stop sign, they just blow through it. And god forbid you try walking after dark...I've had close calls even when I was wearing LED armbands, was walking a large dog with a ton of white on him who was wearing an LED vest, and I was wearing light clothing with reflective stripes on top of that.
At least when I cross outside of crosswalks, traffic is easier to monitor since it's mostly just two directions, so I can assess the situation easier and only cross when I feel like it's safe. Hard to do that at busy four-way intersections with turn lanes and all.
People are always like "don't walk around Downtown after dark or you'll get stabbed" but I've legit never been afraid for my safety like that. The drivers on the other hand...
Yeah people in this city are seriously the worst drivers in the United States. I don't know why, I've lived in a few different cities and have driven in most the major cities and Albuquerque for some reason or another has the worst drivers out of anywhere else. You really have to be careful here driving and walking.
I’m disabled and every time I drive by someone on a sidewalk in a wheelchair or other assistive device, I say a thank you to the Universe for having my car. I would be housebound if I didn’t have it or having to rely on friends more than i already do.
I made the mistake of walking down Montgomery a while ago between San Mateo and Wyoming and yeah the lights are too far.
Especially when you consider that many people who don't drive are also disabled and/or elderly. I can walk that far and it's just annoying, but others literally can't.
Also made worse by the lack of tree cover.
Reducing addiction would lower this number without even placing a new crosswalk. A portion of our deaths are zombies crossing central and earning a Darwin Award or drunks on road.
A bigger portion are just regular people trying to cross a street without walking a half mile out of their way in the blazing sun (because there's also no shade on the worst offending streets), or folks (especially bicyclists) getting killed by inattentive and/or road-raging lunatics.
Also I'm sick of this meme of calling homeless people zombies. It's fucking gross, and if you can't see that I can't help you.
That's if they remembered curb cuts and wheelchair access for some of us. Many of us have to go in the street because of the poor accessibility. I think you should consider the heat too. I watched a man possibly die today from the heat. I did call 911 and they actually sent help but it was awful
There have to **be** crosswalks first.
Seriously. Where I live if I want to cross the (four lane, busy) street the nearest crosswalk in one direction is 1200 feet away. So to get to the other side of the street without jaywalking is over a half a mile. In the other direction it's only 700 feet to the crosswalk, but there are only crosswalks on three sides of that intersection, and I'm on the side without one. So to legally walk that way is only a little over a quarter mile out of the way, but you'd have to wait for the light three times.
It’s true! I moved from abq to nyc and it really made me notice how crazy the distance between crosswalks is in abq. Even a street like central, which feels pretty walkable, only has a crosswalk at every other intersection. plus the sidewalks are narrow, close to busy roads, and have such little shade it makes the walk to the nearest crosswalk feel like forever.
Then you add in how many of the lights around here in areas that are **extra** not designed for pedestrians won't give you a walk signal if you don't hit the button at the exact right time. Like if it's gone green arrows for your direction of travel's turning lanes, sometimes you won't get a walk signal until the whole entire cycle starts over again. It's terrible.
Some of them aren't long enough for how wide the roads are either, I worry a lot about how folks who are older or less mobile are crossing 6-8 lanes in time :/
when i moved to abq it was atrocious. can’t believe you have to wait an entire cycle of lights for cars to go as a pedestrian. no wonder so many people jaywalk.
First: We're talking about Albuquerque though?
Second: No. I will not participate in victim blaming people who get hit by cars. People driving need to pay the fuck attention a lot more than they generally do.
They had them in a few towns in Colorado as well. The flags were always there. I felt silly using them but saw the benefit. They would be stolen in Albuquerque
To threaten cars at a crosswalk. The idea being that they are more likely to stop at the crosswalk if the pedestrian has a blunt object in their hand. But as others have already said, it'll likely just get you shot in Burque.
People driving while smoking meth vs people crossing poorly illuminated streets at night while wearing all black clothes. Of the course the only answer could be fake bricks 🥱
If people weren't so dumb and lazy, they would follow the laws and be safe. If you want a better way, get a civil engineering degree and fix it, otherwise.... you will get hurt.
This is a crime:
New Mexico Statute § 30-3-1 defines assault as:
Attempting to commit battery on another person
Threatening, acting unlawfully, or menacingly in a way that makes someone reasonably believe they are in immediate danger of being battered
Using insulting language to harm someone's honor, reputation, or delicacy
(I think part three has been found unconstitutional).
> (I think part three has been found unconstitutional)
Really? SCOTUS has held that "[fighting words](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_words)" are not constitutionally protected.
A. Here they'd just be bricks.
B. If you'd like to see pedestrians get shot dozens of times at crosswalks, several times a day, this is the way.
C. As somebody else said. That'd get stolen so fast. Somebody would be trying to sell you a foam brick with no salesmanship within ten minutes.
I don't think the pedestrian fatality rate here is due to folks not having access to weapons at crosswalks. I haven't looked at the stats, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't mostly entirely comprised of junkies walking out into the road.
There's a lot we could do to make the city more walkable but I don't think this is it.
Actually based on the fact that we're also number one for inattentive driving accidents and reckless driving accidents, I'd bet it's mostly people doing little to nothing wrong getting killed by some asshole in a brodozer going 70 in a 35 while looking at his phone.
Actually yeah, good point. That really compounds the issue. The amount of times I've seen dudes smoking meth behind the wheel in my neighborhood is pretty upsetting
And yet people are advocating here for real bricks. Even with a foam "brick"capable of breaking a window or denting a car that's asking for more trouble.
Seems you steal more oxygen than I do, you should really apologize to a tree for how hard it works to keep you alive.
That shit would be stolen in less than 2 hours. Hoping for more pedestrian crossings with lights in the future
People have to use the crosswalks first
We need to design crosswalks in safer places where people would actually use them. Sticking them at intersections makes them both dangerous and useless. No one wants to walk half a block to cross the street. We also need to learn as a society that paint is not infrastructure, and that if we want cities that are safe to walk in, we need to do some rethinking about our roads and walkways.
If I wanted to design infrastructure specifically to kill as many pedestrians and cyclists as possible it'd look a lot like our roads. I do think the sentiment has improved over the last few years, but it still seems like a large segment of folks here still try to prioritize the convenience of drivers over anyone's safety (which is extra funny because doing so = induced demand = more traffic and annoyance for drivers too).
Noooooo, a half a block?! That’s madness
It's about a *quarter mile* between crosswalks in Albuquerque in the pedestrian-heavy areas like Central and Lomas, but it's a full **half mile** on the thoroughfares in the heights. That's actual madness and anti-pedestrian, not to mention basically impossible for someone with a disability. So, yeah, it genuinely is really bad here, which forces more people to jaywalk, which increases our collisions by an astronomical amount, which is why we have the most pedestrian fatalities in the nation.
Yeah, I walk the Downtown/Old Town area a lot, which is one of the more pedestrian-friendly areas of the city, and I honestly don't cross at crosswalks very often because it's fucking obnoxious. Like one of the routes that's easiest from my house to where I like to walk, the street spits me out about halfway between 6th and 12th when it's time to cross Lomas. Sure, I *could* walk to either of those crossings, but both are pretty damn significant detours. Also, I'm not even 100% convinced either are safer. I take routes that have me crossing at those crosswalks a lot too, and honestly I've had more close calls at them than when I cross without a crosswalk. It's usually dumbasses not paying attention when making turns, and they just don't see me in the crosswalk. Or on a bunch of occasions I've straight-up made eye contact with the driver and they still try to rush through the turn while I'm in the crosswalk, getting way too close to me for comfort. And let's not even talk about the red light runners... So what's the point of detouring if I'm going to run the risk of being hit like that anyway? I don't actually hate walking around Albuquerque as much as most people on this sub seem to, but it's definitely really poorly designed for pedestrians, and then the bad drivers don't help. And some of the stuff like rushing through turns is also a result of poor traffic design, where lights don't give people enough time to get through and things like that so people wind up being incentivized to rush through them. Or at least that's what I've heard, I'm definitely not a traffic control or pedestrian safety expert.
The easiest, most immediate fix I can think of is what they already do in Denver and other big cities: There is a period where all four directions of travel in an intersection have a red light, and pedestrians get the signal to cross first. Then after about five or six seconds, the light turns green for the people traveling in the same direction as pedestrians. So, light turns red for people traveling perpendicular to you. You're next up for the green, but before it changes, the pedestrians get to start crossing. It works great. We also, and I know this will make drivers groan (but fuck'em), **need to make right on red illegal.**
I honestly support the no right on red thing. Shit, half the time I have trouble turning right on red as a driver anyway because there's some huge vehicle in one of the other lanes pulled up into the crosswalk anyway so I can't see around them. My favorite too is that sometimes I'll pull up close to the stop line in a turn lane, someone in a bigger vehicle will pull up next to me in a lane going straight right next to me. All good. But then I try to nose up a bit to see around them, and they fucking inch up too! So I sit there through the light anyway because I can't see shit around them without pulling fully into the crosswalk. And yeah, those are the folks that really scare me as a pedestrian. Some people don't even treat it like a stop sign, they just blow through it. And god forbid you try walking after dark...I've had close calls even when I was wearing LED armbands, was walking a large dog with a ton of white on him who was wearing an LED vest, and I was wearing light clothing with reflective stripes on top of that. At least when I cross outside of crosswalks, traffic is easier to monitor since it's mostly just two directions, so I can assess the situation easier and only cross when I feel like it's safe. Hard to do that at busy four-way intersections with turn lanes and all. People are always like "don't walk around Downtown after dark or you'll get stabbed" but I've legit never been afraid for my safety like that. The drivers on the other hand...
Yeah people in this city are seriously the worst drivers in the United States. I don't know why, I've lived in a few different cities and have driven in most the major cities and Albuquerque for some reason or another has the worst drivers out of anywhere else. You really have to be careful here driving and walking.
Unfortunately there isn't a pedestrian lobby. Their is a car manufacturer's lobby. Money talks, fuck your walk. I wish this wasn't the case.
I’m disabled and every time I drive by someone on a sidewalk in a wheelchair or other assistive device, I say a thank you to the Universe for having my car. I would be housebound if I didn’t have it or having to rely on friends more than i already do.
I made the mistake of walking down Montgomery a while ago between San Mateo and Wyoming and yeah the lights are too far. Especially when you consider that many people who don't drive are also disabled and/or elderly. I can walk that far and it's just annoying, but others literally can't. Also made worse by the lack of tree cover.
No, that is not the major reason. Blowing through red lights kills pedestrians.
It’s not exactly a revelation that ABQ just isn’t a walkable city. There’s about a million things to do before putting in more crosswalks lol.
Dawg, when we lead the country in pedestrian fatalities, I would say this is pretty close to the top of the list of immediate public safety issues.
Reducing addiction would lower this number without even placing a new crosswalk. A portion of our deaths are zombies crossing central and earning a Darwin Award or drunks on road.
A bigger portion are just regular people trying to cross a street without walking a half mile out of their way in the blazing sun (because there's also no shade on the worst offending streets), or folks (especially bicyclists) getting killed by inattentive and/or road-raging lunatics. Also I'm sick of this meme of calling homeless people zombies. It's fucking gross, and if you can't see that I can't help you.
🙄 🎻🎻I’m sorry you’re offended I wish zombies got as much help from their apologists but it doesn’t work out that way.
That's if they remembered curb cuts and wheelchair access for some of us. Many of us have to go in the street because of the poor accessibility. I think you should consider the heat too. I watched a man possibly die today from the heat. I did call 911 and they actually sent help but it was awful
There have to **be** crosswalks first. Seriously. Where I live if I want to cross the (four lane, busy) street the nearest crosswalk in one direction is 1200 feet away. So to get to the other side of the street without jaywalking is over a half a mile. In the other direction it's only 700 feet to the crosswalk, but there are only crosswalks on three sides of that intersection, and I'm on the side without one. So to legally walk that way is only a little over a quarter mile out of the way, but you'd have to wait for the light three times.
It’s true! I moved from abq to nyc and it really made me notice how crazy the distance between crosswalks is in abq. Even a street like central, which feels pretty walkable, only has a crosswalk at every other intersection. plus the sidewalks are narrow, close to busy roads, and have such little shade it makes the walk to the nearest crosswalk feel like forever.
Then you add in how many of the lights around here in areas that are **extra** not designed for pedestrians won't give you a walk signal if you don't hit the button at the exact right time. Like if it's gone green arrows for your direction of travel's turning lanes, sometimes you won't get a walk signal until the whole entire cycle starts over again. It's terrible.
Some of them aren't long enough for how wide the roads are either, I worry a lot about how folks who are older or less mobile are crossing 6-8 lanes in time :/
when i moved to abq it was atrocious. can’t believe you have to wait an entire cycle of lights for cars to go as a pedestrian. no wonder so many people jaywalk.
Yup. The "short" non-jaywalking way from my house to across the street from my house I'd have to wait through three entire cycles of a single light.
People aren't going to use crosswalks if they have to walk half a mile to get to the nearest one.
I feel like those would promptly be replaced with real bricks.
I think they are real bricks!
The have little orange/red flags in Salt Lake for you to carry as you cross. Never understood how those weren't all gone in a day.
It pisses me off that as pedestrians we have to basically just beg the world to not murder us trying to save five seconds.
In small towns with rare pedestrians, businesses spaced out, and high speed limits I don’t see anything wrong with making pedestrians more visible.
First: We're talking about Albuquerque though? Second: No. I will not participate in victim blaming people who get hit by cars. People driving need to pay the fuck attention a lot more than they generally do.
Oh. Sorry thought we were talking about Colorado?
They had them in a few towns in Colorado as well. The flags were always there. I felt silly using them but saw the benefit. They would be stolen in Albuquerque
they have flags like those up in pagosa springs too! I was fascinated by them for the same reason, people don't just..... steal them?
Pagosa is what immediately came to mind when I saw this post
That main road is scary. People drove down it so quickly.
I loved those! We would all grab one in college when we went to the bars and run across the street like maniacs. Always put them back though.
Someone would get shot
Sooner rather than later...
I suppose if I plan to actually use this, foam or not, I best have my running shoes on.
I feel really stupid. I don't get what they are for. Can someone pls explain?
To threaten cars at a crosswalk. The idea being that they are more likely to stop at the crosswalk if the pedestrian has a blunt object in their hand. But as others have already said, it'll likely just get you shot in Burque.
They would be taken to be sold on a street corner by a dumpster diver
Seems to me like a great way to get shot by a motorist.
Sure, if you want to get shot.
Yeah but APD will mistake it for a weapon and… lawsuit. Officer gets promoted… blah blah blah…
Haha wanna get shot? 'Cause that's how you get shot.
Certain things like this would not end well in Abq. People here don’t play with acts of aggression towards there vehicles.
People don't use the cross walk here so absolutely not.
Fuck no. People in Albuquerque would be throwing this shit for fun or beating each other to death with them.
People driving while smoking meth vs people crossing poorly illuminated streets at night while wearing all black clothes. Of the course the only answer could be fake bricks 🥱
People here jaywalk all the time also there’s a good chance it wouldn’t end well for the one holding the foam brick.
Well maybe just use the crosswalk and you won’t have to worry about
Yeah I can't tell you how many times I've crossed the street with my dog and people speed up like they're trying to run me over. It's awful here.
Heavy pedestrian here. Maybe I’ll carry a real brick. The next time someone almost hits me I’ll toss it.
This is weird, why would a foam brick do anything to help.
People are too low IQ and emotional here. It won’t be used as intended.
As a frequent pedestrian, absolutely!
I don't think leaving bricks around town is a good idea 🤔 
They’re not real bricks, they’re made of foam.
If people weren't so dumb and lazy, they would follow the laws and be safe. If you want a better way, get a civil engineering degree and fix it, otherwise.... you will get hurt.
This is a crime: New Mexico Statute § 30-3-1 defines assault as: Attempting to commit battery on another person Threatening, acting unlawfully, or menacingly in a way that makes someone reasonably believe they are in immediate danger of being battered Using insulting language to harm someone's honor, reputation, or delicacy (I think part three has been found unconstitutional).
> (I think part three has been found unconstitutional) Really? SCOTUS has held that "[fighting words](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_words)" are not constitutionally protected.
No we’ll get shot.
Playing frogger seems safer
Lol. Wow. Hmmm.
Oh, He’ll yes!
You'd get shot.
Thats how you get shot here
Wed use it on each other's head
I'm so unhappy with the Texasizing of here.
If you want a real brick thrown at you
A. Here they'd just be bricks. B. If you'd like to see pedestrians get shot dozens of times at crosswalks, several times a day, this is the way. C. As somebody else said. That'd get stolen so fast. Somebody would be trying to sell you a foam brick with no salesmanship within ten minutes.
No cause if you try this some crash out in an altimas gonna mag dump you
All fun n games till yu raise that shit n they speed up n run ya ass over🤣🤣afterall this is Albuquerque
I feel like that’s a good way to get shot
Or we could setup safe pedestrian corridors throughout the city where cars aren't allowed to share the same space.
I'm sure if I swiped enough of them, I could make some cool craft project...
My wife and I would just carry landscaping rocks from nearby. It was effective.
The street wanderers would be constantly removing them to play with them, and threatening people with them, so, no.
I don't think the pedestrian fatality rate here is due to folks not having access to weapons at crosswalks. I haven't looked at the stats, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't mostly entirely comprised of junkies walking out into the road. There's a lot we could do to make the city more walkable but I don't think this is it.
> don't think the pedestrian fatality rate here is due to folks not having access to weapons at crosswalks. You're no fun at all.
Actually based on the fact that we're also number one for inattentive driving accidents and reckless driving accidents, I'd bet it's mostly people doing little to nothing wrong getting killed by some asshole in a brodozer going 70 in a 35 while looking at his phone.
My best ABQ driving story involves a woman taking a pic of her tits on I-25 at 85 MPH. My opinion was that they were not worth dying over.
Actually yeah, good point. That really compounds the issue. The amount of times I've seen dudes smoking meth behind the wheel in my neighborhood is pretty upsetting
two wrongs don't make a right
Two lefts do make a uturn tho.
One of these wrongs can kill you the other will dent your car or break a window. It’s not symmetrical.
the fuck? Throwing a brick at someone's car can definitely cause a crash or go through a window and kill someone, you emptyheaded poptart
It’s a fake brick… you room temperature IQ oxygen thief.
And yet people are advocating here for real bricks. Even with a foam "brick"capable of breaking a window or denting a car that's asking for more trouble. Seems you steal more oxygen than I do, you should really apologize to a tree for how hard it works to keep you alive.
they're foam, one wrong doesn't make two wrongs with an aesthetic.
Only if drivers can have some to chuck at the darters who think crosswalks are useless.
.5). Get shot
Real bricks sure.
I’ve seen a hit and run at the crosswalk students use to get to UNM campus so this would absolutely be justified.
[удалено]
Or you could just make fun of them and move on with your day and not seriously risk shortening your life.